Festival honours fading tradition

"This is a chance to honour, preserve and develop the original traditional art," said Huynh Vinh Ai, deputy minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Then, accompanied by dan tinh (gourd lute) has played an important role in the spiritual lives of the Tay, Nung and Thai for centuries. The festival aims to promote the unique folk art, strongly associated with the lives of those ethnic groups, while also honouring then artists for their contributions to the preservation and promotion of the art.

The five-day event brought together 500 then artists from nine northern provinces, including Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Tuyen Quang, Bac Giang, Quang Ninh, Lao Cai and Dien Bien. They performed different then tunes representing their regions. Diverse objects and photos featuring outstanding then artists, musical instruments and costumes related to the art form are on display at an exhibition until Friday.

As part of the festival, a seminar on then development and preservation was also organised.

"I am very happy to take part in this festival,"said Ma Thi Xuyen, a then singer from Tuyen Quang Province. "I hope the event can help to preserve the identity of Vietnamese culture in general and the then art genre in particular," she added.

Preservation of then art

The word then originates from thien, which means sky or heaven, and is regarded by the local ethnic groups as the tune of the Gods. At the beginning of each year, a then ritual is often organised to pray for safety, a bumper crop and longevity.

The festival is a big opportunity for the groups to display their cultural heritage to the world. However, this also poses challenges for the provinces in how to preserve and promote the values of this special traditional art form. The province of Lang Son has carried out diverse solutions to preserve and promote the value of then singing.

They include research, collection, compilation and publication of books and CDs. Other solutions include organising training courses and co-ordinating with localities to invite artists to teach the younger generations. Fifty teachers from primary and secondary schools have taken then singing classes.

A provincial association was set up to preserve the folk music. Tran Huu Son, director of Lang Son Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the provincial cultural sector was drafting a mechanism to encourage and honour artists and those devoted to maintaining and imparting this art form to younger generations. ‘Only veteran artists and musicians can transfer the traditional value of then art to young people," Son stressed. Nowadays, then is not only performed in ethnic languages, but also in Vietnamese, so it's an occasion for groups to exchange with each other.

Surprisingly, then clubs have cropped up in remote provinces but also in big cities like HCM City. The city's Nang Moi Club organises classes every week on Monday and Wednesday. The club has 28 members aged from 50 to 70 years old. The club took part in the second national then singing festival held in 2007 in Cao Bang Province and in the third festival held in 2009 in Bac Kan Province. It has also performed in various southern localities including HCM City, Vung Tau, Soc Trang and Ca Mau.

Despite efforts to preserve the then singing, it is on the brink of being lost forever like many other traditional art forms. The number of experienced artists has declined rapidly, while younger generations prefer more modern styles of music.

Researchers said preservation and promotion of the then art would not be an overnight task and would need the whole community to get involved.

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